Harder test eyed for foreigners seeking Japanese driver's licenses
Foreign motorists visit the Samezu Driver's License Center of Metropolitan Police Department in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward on May 20. (Natsuno Otahara)
The National Police Agency is reviewing the 'very easy' procedure of converting foreign driver's licenses into Japanese ones following a huge surge in applicants and a pair of shocking traffic accidents.
According to the NPA, the conversion procedure, which started in 1933, requires a driving test and a knowledge test.
Applicants can pass the knowledge test if they correctly answer seven of 10 true-or-false questions.
The system was initially intended to make it easy for Japanese people living overseas to drive again in Japan after their return.
However, the number of foreign people using this system jumped 2.2 times from 2013 to 2023.
In 2023, of the 60,010 people who obtained driving permits in Japan, 93.4 percent, or 56,022, were foreign nationals. Most of them were Vietnamese, at 15,807, followed by 11,247 Chinese.
Driver's license centers have become so crowded with people trying to convert foreign driver's licenses that Tokyo's Metropolitan Police Department started requiring reservations for the service.
In some cases, applications were completed on subsequent days because of the long waiting lines.
The NPA said 44 prefectures have adopted a reservation system. Only Chiba, Saitama and Fukuoka prefectures do not require reservations to convert licenses.
EASY-TO-OBTAIN LICENSE
A 35-year-old Chinese man who came to the Samezu Driver's License Center in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward on May 20 to convert his license said he lives in Tokyo and needs a Japanese driver's license to enjoy traveling by car.
'Many Chinese say on social media that the questions are very easy,' he said.
A 29-year-old man from Sri Lanka at the center also said the knowledge test was simple.
Another problem pointed out with the system is that temporary accommodations, including hotel rooms or acquaintance's homes, can be listed as the 'place of stay' in the registration form.
'If the driver's address is temporary, we will have no idea of their location if something happens,' said Hirokazu Kato, a professor specializing in transportation policy at Nagoya University's graduate school. 'If the quality and the level are not ensured, trust in the Japanese driver's license could be questioned.'
Foreigners can gain additional benefits from changing licenses in Japan. If they obtain an international driver's license after getting a Japanese one, they can drive in about 100 signatory countries to the 1949 Geneva Conventions.
'For foreigners whose countries are not signatories, the advantages of obtaining a driving permit in Japan are huge.
They may also be aware that the knowledge test for the Japanese driver's license is easy,' Kato said.
The NPA is considering increasing the number of knowledge test questions and verifying addresses through resident cards, except for Japanese nationals who have moved abroad.
On May 21, LDP Policy Research Council Chairman Itsunori Onodera visited the Samezu Driver's License Center and took the knowledge test.
He later told reporters he believed there was room for improvement regarding the number of questions.
The license conversion system was earlier discussed at the Lower House Budget Committee on March 3.
'We will continue to review the system and its operation,' National Public Safety Commission Chairman Manabu Sakai said.
TWO ACCIDENTS
In May, a vehicle driven by a Chinese man hit four elementary school pupils in Saitama Prefecture, causing serious and minor injuries. He was later arrested on suspicion of drunken driving and hit-and-run.
A few days later, a Peruvian man drove a car in the wrong direction on the Shin-Meishin Expressway in Mie Prefecture, causing an accident that injured four women, police said.
According to investigators, the Chinese and Peruvian drivers both obtained Japanese licenses by converting their foreign licenses.
(This article was written by Daichi Itakura and Natsuno Otahara.)
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